00:07Hello, join us as we go live to Cuba for statements from Carlos Fernandes de Cossillo,
00:12Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Island. Let's listen.
00:18Mainly, and thank you for your invitation and all of the guests in this Mesa Redonda program.
00:25The main announcement is the accusation that is qualified as fraudulent against Army General and other military leaders, Cuban military
00:38leaders.
00:38It is an accusation with no legal basis, no political basis and no moral basis and must be seen as
00:45part of the aggressive escalation of hostilities
00:48that we have seen throughout the year on behalf of the U.S. against Cuba.
00:55It is not an isolated event. It is part of that aggressive actions, within that aggressive actions,
01:04and could be seen as well as a political favor to an elite, not representative elite,
01:11not even representative of the Cubans that live in the United States,
01:14but politically very well positioned, economically,
01:18and that thanks to the corrupt nature of the political system in the U.S. has disproportionate influence
01:26in the decisions that are taken by the government of the United States,
01:30particularly the current government of the United States.
01:33And it's part as well of a phenomenon that has been taking place in the past weeks
01:37in which the great press, the international press, and the media of the great press of the United States,
01:44pushing on the idea of the inavoidability of a military aggression against Cuba.
01:52And they have been using these products, again, as a symptom of what is happening,
01:58a phenomenon that has been incorporated in several U.S. media,
02:02and also some of them that are not from the U.S.,
02:06that are very motivated by requests of the U.S.,
02:10and also to create sensation throughout this matter.
02:18This, by the role, is a specific incident.
02:21This is the dawning of two airplanes that came from the United States
02:25that violated the airspace, the Cuban airspace, on February 24, 1996.
02:32And we must say that this is an act in which there is an absolute responsibility
02:38of the U.S. government, human lives were lost,
02:42and that was the responsibility of the United States government.
02:45And it must be recalled how these events took place at that moment.
02:50As in the news briefed by the Cuban government,
02:57there were several incursions, viral incursions,
03:00from the Brothers to the Rescue airplanes through 1994 and 1996.
03:06In 25 occasions, the Cuban government contacted through diplomatic means
03:15the government of the United States, not just denouncing this event,
03:19but also expressing the concern because of the danger that this post,
03:25because it was being violated, that our national airspace,
03:31and that Cuba had to take measures against this,
03:35and also warned on several occasions about this danger.
03:38Our government, as well, claimed the United States
03:44that took off the licenses of flights,
03:47and even the United States at that moment took off their licenses
03:51to the leader of that organization.
03:55Basulto was his last name.
03:57And even though violating that will, on January 15th, 40 days earlier of the events,
04:06the government of Cuba launched a public statement in which it said publicly
04:12that any airplane that flies over its airspace, national airspace,
04:19without authorization, would be intercepted, and if needed, neutralized as well.
04:24And that was a warning that Cuba had the means to defend itself.
04:30Now, this violation of the airspace were no secret.
04:35This news, Cuba didn't know about this, nor through intelligence means.
04:41They were showing this information.
04:45Basulto was even calling the news media, local news media,
04:51and they explained as well one of their expeditions overflying Havana,
04:57showing the impunity with which they were overflying that,
05:00and saying that Cuba had no defenses to protect its airspace,
05:04which is a very dangerous statement.
05:06The government of Cuba, in January 1996, through several means,
05:13to launch a direct message to the President of the United States.
05:17And there was a constance that that message was received,
05:22a warning about this danger.
05:25And the day of the events, it was known that the government of the United States,
05:29the Department of State, and the Security Council as well,
05:33as also the authorities of the aviation, national aviation,
05:36they knew that this incursion, this flight was going to take place,
05:40and they knew it even from the previous night.
05:45So they took the decision of no taking decisions above this flight.
05:55There are also other information years after documents have been declassified,
06:02information have been declassified,
06:04that include conversations with the Department of State
06:07and other agencies of the United States,
06:09in which they recognize that this is a violation of the international law,
06:14that they weren't about the danger that it poses,
06:17and also they mention a catastrophic scenario of consequences,
06:22of grave, nefarious consequences,
06:24if they pursue, continue to pursue this flight.
06:29And they said as well that it was very likely for Cuba to protect its airspace.
06:34Yesterday, the National Archive of the United States revealed this.
06:39And I reiterate, the government of the United States didn't took any action,
06:44so there was a tolerance and a responsibility on behalf of the United States government.
06:49And Cuba acted in defense of its national sovereignty.
06:52The act of Cuba was in defense of sovereignty and peace,
06:56and exercised with a great demonstration,
07:00four years of patience and tolerance,
07:03and exercised the right to defend itself and its sovereignty and the peace of the people of Cuba.
07:09That's the historical truth of the event.
07:15Cuba claimed repeatedly to the U.S. government to take action,
07:20and they did not do so.
07:21So we are in the phase of an act that there was a complete responsibility of the United States government.
07:27Here, the defendants in this indictment,
07:31they were fulfilling the duty of protecting the airspace, the homeland, and peace of Cubans.
07:38That is why what they did today was no act of justice.
07:43It was rather an act of injustice against a group of Cubans
07:47that were fulfilling duties following the orders of Army General Raul Castro.
07:55However, this accusation takes and leads to an additional threat,
08:00because, you know, it is well known of the dark practices of the United States
08:05of utilizing accusations such as this one to act militarily against sovereign states.
08:15Its protection is not the use of justice,
08:17but the power, the military power that the U.S. government has.
08:21And must be said that any attempt of utilizing this excuse
08:27for a military action against these colleagues
08:31will be taken of the Cuban people.
08:38We were at this moment listening to statements from Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
08:44Carlos Fernandez de Cosillo
08:46regarding the recent escalation of U.S. hostilities toward Cuba
08:50following the indictment targeting Army General Raul Castro,
08:54Cuban officials as well.
08:56And this move has been a politically motivated one,
09:01as the official said,
09:03and argued that it exposes as well what they see as Washington's double standards
09:08and long-standing tolerance of violence and terrorism directed against Cuba.
09:14This is all for the moment.
09:15Stay tuned with Telesur English for more.
09:19Stay tuned with us.
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